This textbook, Essentials of Biochemistry is aimed at chemistry and biochemistry undergraduate students and first year biochemistry graduate students. It incorporates the lectures of the authors given to students with a strong chemistry background. An emphasis is placed on metabolism and reaction mechanisms and how they are studied. As the title of the book implies, the text lays the basis for an understanding of the fundamentals of biochemistry.

The Cell: bacteria, plants, animals

Introduction to Biomolecules: amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleotides
Macromolecules: Proteins, RNA, DNA, membranes
Enzymes and mechanisms
Enzyme Kinetics
Coenzymes and Vitamins
Introduction to Metabolism
Carbohydrate Metabolism A: Monosaccharides
TCA and Glyoxylate Cycles
Electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation
Carbohydrate Metabolism B: Di-,Oligo-, and Polysaccharide Metabolism
Lipid Metabolism: Fatty Acid Synthesis and Degradation
Amino Acid Metabolism
Purine and Pyrimidine Nucleotide Metabolism
Photosynthesis and the Calvin Cycle
DNA, RNA, and Protein Metabolism.